Our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

Our family trip to Cologne and Bonn took in all the highlights of these beautiful cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. We loved walking the winding streets of Cologne, discovering different districts, and eating in some fantastic restaurants. nd Bonn really got under our skin, especially after a trip out to Königswinter. This was the perfect winter break. Our first trip to Germany as a family and we really enjoyed it. It was the perfect taster and definitely left us wanting to see more.

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Video of our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

Starting in Bonn

We started our trip in Bonn. Taking the bus from the airport in to the city and then the U-Bahn out to our hotel, the Maritim Bonn which was a little out of the city.

This was the perfect base for us and we loved the tranquility of the area but it being so accessible to all the main sights.

We really enjoyed hopping on the train in to the city centre. We spent time wandering the streets here and loving coming across little treats like the fish and chips stall in the main street where we could stop for a while and warm up with some hot snacks. Or picking up nougatbrezel, sweet almond covered pretzels.

Beethoven in Bonn

We headed in to find out about Beethoven’s most famous former resident Ludwig von Beethoven in the house in which he was born.

It was wonderful to find it, floorboards creaking and walls slanting but standing strong.

We loved hearing about his life, the deafness he tried to keep secret and his desire that people wouldn’t see him as a recluse who hated people (he just didn’t want them to find out about his hearing issues).

It was great getting lost in the back streets here. There there were glimpses of the old town before it was extensively bombed.

Little insights in to the look of this lovely town.

We loved hanging out at the Maritim Hotel too. Perfect for any family trip to Cologne and Bonn.

With its indoor heated pool and plenty of space it was ideal for downtime between trips out and we really enjoyed our stay here.

Parks in Bonn on our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

Somewhere we really enjoyed was the beautiful park behind the Maritim Hotel, the Freizeitpark Rheinaue. This was packed full of families enjoying the February sunshine.

We spent a lovely afternoon here where the children raced around the playgrounds and we stood for ages looking at all the wildlife around the lake.

It felt so good to be out and about with local families. The smell of barbecues in the air, ice creams everywhere, happy laughter.

It felt like spring was just around the corner.

Königswinter

Another trip out we all really enjoyed was to Königswinter. Taking the train out of Bonn, the sun shining brightly as we travelled along with the Rhine to the right of us, looking sparkling and beautiful in the February light.

Large boats were drifting down the river and it looked timeless and tranquil.

We fell in love with Königswinter, such a picturesque little town, full of charm and German colour.

Then we headed to Sealife Königswinter which was a wonderful aquarium.

We explored all the floors of tanks and sea life. I love how Sea Life Centres all have conservation at their heart and really aim to educate guests on how to protect our fragile environment.

From here we walked up the steep hill to Schloss Drachenburg. A castle that from a distance, looked whimsical and fairytale like.

In fact much of what we could see was pretending to be something else.

Schloss Drachenburg was the home (although he never actually lived in it) of Baron Stephan von Sarter.

Constructed during the late 19th century it appears to be much older than it really is. It was taken over by the Nazis during the war. Becoming an elite Nazi training centre and so was extensively bombed by the Allies, losing nearly all of its stained glass windows.

Haribo on our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

We finished up our time in Bonn with a trip to the Haribo factory outlet.

Before this trip I didn’t realise that Haribo was founded in Bonn (the name takes the first two initials of the founder’s first and last name and the first two initials on Bonn.) And that it was first made in the 1920s.

Since Haribo have started making vegetarian sweets we found ourselves taking a little trip to their factory shop and watching the children’s eyes turn as big as saucers – it was huge.

We all picked out a bagful of sweets to take on our travels with us.

Cologne

Then before we knew it we were heading off. Waving goodbye to lovely Bonn and taking the train north to the 2,000 year old city of Cologne, also in North Rhine-Westphalia and also on the Rhine River.

We didn’t have the best start when the hotel we were due to stay in had a flood and the city was pretty much booked up due to a trade fair. But we were lucky to find the sweetest apartment, the Statthaus, which was full of character, right in the centre of the city.

I feel so pleased things worked out in the way they did as this was such a lovely apartment to stay in.

Cologne is so much bigger than Bonn with lots more going on and each day we packed in the activities to see as much of the area as we could. There were so many things to do in Cologne with kids.

Farina Museum – our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

One of my favourite places we visited was the Farina museum where we learnt about perfume in the world’s oldest fragrance house.

It was amazing to smell the scent, made to the same recipe as the original from the early 18th century.

The children loved hearing about how badly the general population would have smelled, with people not washing for months. It was a real insight in to this time in history and how this fragrance came about.

Cologne Zoo

The children loved a trip out to Cologne Zoo which was so quiet when we visited.

We walked through enclosures of sleeping animals, still keeping warm in the chilly winter days.

We laughed over the baboon feeding time as these cheeky creatures raced around to grab the vegetables being lobbed in. And we gazed for ages at the elephants in their large enclosure.

One of my favourite trips out and about in Cologne was to the cool Ehrenfeld district in the city. This felt really colourful and vibrant.

We had a go at glow in the dark mini golf which was so much fun.

We laughed as we tried to maneuver the ball around various scenes from underwater to Egyptian. It was something all ages of the family could get involved in and we really enjoyed it.

We finished up by heading to what has to be one of the best vegan restaurants in Germany, Bunte Burger. The food was amazing, so delicious, I would be in there all the time if I lived in Cologne.

History in Cologne

We always try and find out about the history of the places we visit and Cologne provided plenty of opportunities for us to delve in to the past.

The most disturbing was a visit to the NS-Documentation Center which is one of the best preserved Gestapo prisons.

Wandering through cells, graffiti etched despairingly on the walls and photographs of the horrific atrocities that took place in this building were sickening.

We took only the 12-year-old on a visit here, deeming the younger two not ready for the horrors this building gave us glimpses into and even for the oldest it was a hard visit.

Lindt on our family trip to Cologne and Bonn

A visit to the city’s chocolate factory gave us a chance to all come together to find out about the history of this sweet delight in the city.

We loved hearing about the beginnings of Lindt chocolate and getting to try some samples of it too.